Pittsburgh contractor accused of stealing more than $270,000 from couple

A Pittsburgh contractor arrested Tuesday is accused of stealing more than $270,000 from a couple who hired him to design a home more than three years ago.

Page F. Thomas, 55, was hired in September 2020 by Douglas and Traci Borsch to design a home in Pittsburgh, according to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 18. Authorities say Thomas is the owner of Lequeu Development LLC.

The Borsches paid Thomas more than $276,000 to begin construction in November 2021. Thomas has not started construction and he has lied to the Borschs about the progress of the project, the complaint said.

Thomas told the Borsches that excavators were scheduled to work, but no one was contracted to deliver the excavators, the complaint said.

The Borsches made a separate payment of more than $10,000 to Thomas to purchase chairs. It was received by Thomas in December 2021, but the chairs were never delivered to the Borsches, the complaint said.

Thomas allegedly provided fraudulent screenshots of his bank account to the Borsches to make it seem like their payment was still in his account.

Bank statements indicate that Thomas has used the Borsches payment for personal and unrelated business expenses, including Apple, Amazon, restaurants, donations, utilities, grocery stores, travel and fraud protection service fees.

Thomas has not refunded the Borsches payments, authorities said. His contract was legally severed last August, the complaint said.

Thomas was arrested by detectives from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 13.